Artist with local ties painting interactive buffalo mural in downtown Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — A business owner in downtown Idaho Falls is partnering with an artist to create an interactive mural.
Over the last several weeks, Ben Steele has been busy painting a mural on the Page Insurance building at 365 Park Avenue showing a charging buffalo with Old Faithful and the Tetons in the background.
Business owner John Page tells EastIdahoNews.com the purpose of the project is to help “enhance the surroundings” in downtown and the idea behind the mural is for people to take a selfie in front of it and “have some fun with it.”
“We’re going to put a tractor seat (in front of it) in the next several weeks so you can … control your face and your body in a way that’s interactive with the bison,” Page says.
The mural is slated for completion in the next two weeks.
The Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation has invested in several murals in that part of town already. The latest one is a mural by local artist Marina Zavalova celebrating Idaho Falls pets. It’s located on the north wall of BlackRock Fine Wine and Craft Beer, in the alley off Park Avenue. The Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting for the mural on Thursday.
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Page wanted to be part of another mural project, and that’s how the buffalo project came about.
Steele is Page’s brother-in-law, and it’s that family connection that allowed them to partner for this project. Steele and his wife, Melanie, live in Utah, but she is from Idaho Falls.
In a text to EastIdahoNews.com, Ben explains this is one of the first murals he’s ever worked on. His expertise is oil canvas paintings. When Page approached him with the idea, the two decided to capitalize on a local attraction to create an interactive piece that would provide “one more gathering point in downtown.”
“Since Idaho Falls is such a gateway to Yellowstone, we thought the idea of a safe selfie here at his insurance agency, rather than rumbling with a real buffalo, was a fun reference to his business and the park,” Steele writes.
The mural is 90 percent complete, and Steele will be putting the finishing touches on it over the next couple of weeks. They’re both excited for its completion and they’re inviting people to stop by and see it.
“I hope people enjoy it,” says Page.
